Revolution II Earn Positive Result in 2025 Opener
See how the team fared in their first outing of the new season!
Sunday saw New England Revolution II kick off their 2025 MLS NEXT Pro season as they hosted Philadelphia Union II inside Gillette Stadium.
Richie Williams' starting XI saw six changes from last year's first lineup. JD Gunn got the start in goal behind the back line of Hesron Barry, Keegan Hughes, Victor Souza, and Damario McIntosh. Eric Klein, Cristiano Oliveira, and Marcos Dias started in the midfield, while Gevork Diarbian, Liam Butts, and Jack Panayotou were the three up top.
Revs II almost got off to a hot start in the third minute when a series of passes led Dias to usher a ball forward into the path of Panayotou. Panayotou evaded the defense but took a touch too many as Andrew Rick dove onto the ball.
Philly’s Neil Pierre saw the game's first booking as he was issued a yellow card in the 38th minute. Barry became the first Revs II name to enter the book after receiving a yellow card in the 42nd minute.
Despite good efforts from both camps, things remained scoreless as both sides entered the locker room at halftime. The 66th minute saw Williams go to the bench as Alex Monis and Joe Buck replaced Butts and Souza.
It looked as if Revolution II found a breakthrough in the 72nd minute. Diarbian withstood the pressure and cut toward goal before dishing the ball across the box to Monis, who slotted it past the keeper to make it 1-0. The celebration was cut short as the goal was wiped off the board due to an offside call.
Two more changes came in the 76th minute as Olger Escobar and Javaun Mussenden replaced Oliveira and Panayotou.
Hughes came up big for Revs II in the 80th minute. Philly’s offense worked down the left flank and eventually slotted a ball into the box, but Hughes laid in a perfectly timed tackle to prevent Union II from finding the game’s opening goal.
Momentum swung back Revs II’s way in the 87th when the referee pointed to the spot to award New England a penalty after the ball deflected off a Union II player’s hand inside the box. All-time leading goal scorer stepped to the spot looking to find the opening goal and put Revs II in a position to get their first win of the new campaign. Dias attempted to slot the ball to the left side of the net, but Rick dove the correct way to keep the game scoreless.
With neither side finding the go-ahead goal in regulation, New England and Philadelphia took home the point as we headed to a penalty shootout. Leandro Soria stepped to the spot, looking to keep Philadelphia Union II in the game to close out the fifth round. Soria attempted to find the upper half of the net but put too much on it, as the ball sailed over the net to give Revs II the shootout victory.
It wasn’t the prettiest game, but two points was a solid way for Revolution II to open their 2025 campaign.The second team will look for better results next Thursday, March 13, when they host FC Cincinnati 2 inside Gillette Stadium at 5:00 PM ET.